Birmingham MP Siôn Simon (Lab Erdington), whose constituency includes the Jaguar site in Castle Bromwich, called on the Government to back Jaguar's workers.

He said: "We will have a new team in place at the Department of Trade and Industry once Gordon Brown becomes Prime Minister.

"The first thing I will be doing is arranging to talk to them. There is still a huge amount government can do in terms of managerial and financial aid."

Solihull MP Lorely Burt yesterday met Ford executives at Westminster to quiz them over the proposed sell-off of Land Rover.

She told Joe Greenwell, Ford Vice-President with responsibility for government affairs, that Ford must commit itself to a successful, long term future for Land Rover in Solihull.

In a separate plea, some MPs have called for the Government to step in and prevent Ford from selling the businesses.

A motion urging the Government "to be ready to take swift action to intervene to prevent such a sale" was signed by 21 MPs, including Lynne Jones (Lab Selly Oak) and Jim Cunningham (Lab Coventry South).

About 6,000 people work at Lode Lane in Solihull making the Land Rover Discovery, Defenders and Range Rovers, while 2,000 work at Castle Bromwich building the Jaguar S-Type, XJ and XK.

It is also estimated that around 15,000 West Midlands jobs in the supply depend partly on the Jaguar and Land Rover plants.

Last week it emerged Ford planned to sell Jaguar and Land Rover and has asked Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC to advise on the sale.

The sale became an issue in Labour's deputy leadership contest today, as Hilary Benn, a contender and one of the favourites to win, warned that private equity firms would find themselves "under the microscope" if one bought the company.

It followed claims that private equity firms were using loopholes to pay too little tax, with the rate sometimes as low as 10 per cent.

Mr Benn said: "Land Rover and Jaguar are great British brands, everyone is looking for a new owner who will invest long term in the future of the factories."